Padilla lawyers not planning to call witnesses

[JURIST] Lawyers representing Jose Padilla [JURIST news archive] indicated Tuesday that they are not expecting to present a defense case, telling presiding US District Judge Marcia Cooke [official profile] that the defense will not call any witnesses. Jurors have been hearing the testimony from six witnesses called by lawyers representing Padilla's co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi [GlobalSecurity profiles] since federal prosecutors rested their case [JURIST report] on July 13. Defense lawyers representing the co-defendants are expected to finish presenting their case near the end of the week, and the prosecution will likely present a rebuttal early next week. The jury, which was seated [JURIST report] in May, may begin deliberations as early as late next week.

Padilla, Hassoun, and Jayyousi are accused [JURIST report] of being a part of an Islamic fundamentalist terrorist support network and conspiring to murder US nationals. Padilla, a US citizen, was arrested in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and subsequently detained as an "enemy combatant" [JURIST news archive] at a Navy military brig in Charleston, South Carolina. Initially accused of planning to set off a "dirty bomb" in the United States, Padilla went from enemy combatant to criminal defendant when he was finally charged with other offenses in November 2005. Padilla was transferred to civilian custody [JURIST report] in January 2006 and has pleaded not guilty [JURIST report] to the charges. AP has more.

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